Title: Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia
Identifier: brehmslifeofanim1896breh (find matches)
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Brehm, Alfred Edmund, 1829-1884; Pechuel-Loesche, Edward, 1840-1913; Haacke, Wilhelm, 1855-1912; Schmidtlein, Richard
Subjects: Mammals; Animal behavior
Publisher: Chicago : Marquis
Contributing Library: Internet Archive
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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40 THE APES AXD MONKEYS. came into the gardens. Even the Spaniards do not know whether the animals originally were natives of Europe, or whether they were imported from Africa. A. G. Smith's account of his personal experiences in this respect is very interesting. In the first place, he says that the existence of Monkeys in Europe had so often been doubted, treated as a silly story and denied by captains of ships frequenting Gibral- tar, that he himself had lost all confidence in the reports. But he came to know better, when one day he made the ascent of the rock, to the flag-pole, to enjoy the magnificent view. The sentinel guard of the flag, in the course of conversation, chanced to remark that "the Monkeys were moving." This led to a careful questioning about them and he learned the following particulars : rocky walls, where they are the sole occupants of the many holes and uneven places in the loose ground. It does not seem that they have to work very hard for their living, for they look quite sleek and well-fed. They are commonly supposed to be very shy and to flee at the slightest noise; but the sentinel denied this, and showed me a few rock= from which they had stared at him that very morn- ing, without being in the least disconcerted by his English uniform and soldierly gaze. They remained for quite a little while at the distance of twenty or thirty yards and then retired very deliberately. Yet, as one sees them so little, chiefly when they are moving, it may be concluded that they are of a shy, unsociable nature, for nobody ever pursues them ; they are carefully guarded from all intruders." Posselt's Account A year of Gibraltar later Pos- Monkeys. selt sayg. about the same Monk- eys: "On my passage from Cadiz to Gibraltar I had inquired after the" Monkeys and an English- man residing in Cadir told me there were not any. Arrived in town, I learned that there were from three to fifteen Monkeys yet in exist- ence ; nobody knew the exact number, as they were shy and kept to* the steepest and most inaccessible parts of the rocks. Without a guide, I slowly ascended the main road leading to the signal station, and after having gone about two- thirds of the way, I took to the left and made for the highest point on the northern peak. The mag- nificent view that spread out before my eyes quite engrossed my atten- tion, and I forgot all about the Monkeys, until a sound resembling the distant yelping of a little MAGOT, BARBARY, OR TAILLESS APE. This is the only member of the Monkey family that lives in Dog Startled me. About Europe in the wild state, a colony of them being dwellers upon the Rock of Gibraltar. It is about thesize of a Setter , hundred nnces in- Dog and a very frail animal. It is also found" in the Barbary States, always living in the hilly or mountainous coun- y\ o iiuuuicu p ci l c -3 try. In the Atlas Mountains these Monkeys are known as great thieves, making raids upon fields of grain, where they front of me was the first destroy far more than they eat or take away with them, (limits ecatidatus.)
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" The Monkeys gained a foothold on these rocks a great many centuries ago ; how and when they crossed the wate? is not easily determined, and the Moorish story that to this day they pass to and fro between Gibraltar and Morocco, through a sub- marine passage, is a little too much for the credulity of any one. It is a fact, though, that they live upon the rocky elevation, although greatly reduced in numbers. Eor a long time there were but four of them. They are seldom seen, except when the wind changes and they move to other quarters. They are not very hardy animals and dread every change of temperature, especially the shifting of the wind from east to west and vice versa, and try to shelter themselves from it behind the rocks. They are active to a degree and preferably dwell on steep, battery with its huge can- non pointing at Spain. On the brick platform of the battery an animal, about the size of a Scotch Terrier, was slowly running away from me, and from it the sound had come. I stopped and saw that it was a Monkey which had probably been standing guard ; for on the farther end of the platform, nearer the Mediterranean, two others were lying, lazily basking in the sunshine. Step by step I cautiously approached the interesting group, which drew to- gether and attentively looked at me. At a distance of about one hundred paces I stopped, and they soon regained their composure. They resumed their former occupation, and then started to play. They hugged each other, ran around, and, sometimes, one would enter the mouth of a cannon and come out again. In a word, they seemed thoroughly tame,

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